33
decitrus), in May 2016. The total is supposed
to amount to 246 million 40.8 kg boxes. The
blame for this decrease goes to “fruit setting”
failures (number of fruits likely to reach ma-
turity) ascertained in the majority of the 12 re-
gions of the fruit belt, due to excessively warm
temperatures during the fruit setting process.
Fundecitrus data, released by the Nation-
al Association of Citrus Exporters (Citrus-
BR), including the history of the production
in São Paulo and Triângulo Mineiro, attest to
the fact that, should the forecast of the new
crop confirm, it will match the volume har-
vested back in the 1990/91 season. Afterwards,
the crop reached peak volumes in 1997/98,
1999/00 and 2011/12, with the total reach-
ing 428, 436 and 416 million boxes. From the
2014/15 and 2015/16 growing seasons, there
was a reduction of 2.6 percent, totaling 301
million boxes. Of this total, about 85% were
destined for industrial processing.
Moreover, the association informs, the in-
dustrial performance over the period went
down by 25.7% and was the worst on re-
cord in the history of citrus crops in São Pau-
lo: 302.2 boxes for the production of one ton
of juice concentrate at 66º Brix (FCOJ equiva-
lent). “The bad performance is blamed on ex-
cessive rainfall above the average caused by
the El Niño phenomenon during the months
when harvest reaches its peak, which not only
pressed down the price of orange juice, but
equally increased the amount of fruit skin and
pulp”, comments Ibiapaba Netto, executive
director. He also says that average brix of the
fruit dropped, causing “enormous difficulty
to the production of pasteurized orange juice,
the so-called NFC juice (not from concen-
trate)”. Industry losses amounted to approxi-
mately R$ 1.1 billion.
Due to it, the production of juice in the
2015/16 crop year dropped to 882.5 thousand
tons of FCOJ equivalent (865.5 thousand tons
from the citrus belt and 17 thousand tons sent
Rio Grande do Sul and Paraná to the indus-
tries based in São Paulo). Still, according to
the data released by the entity in early August
2016, total production in the new period is
likely to drop further (18%) and could remain
at 725.5 thousand tons (708.5 thousand tons
from the belt). Therefore, on 30th June 2017,
stocks of the product will drop to the lowest
levels on record, close to zero, a challenge for
meeting market demand (97% external).
Orange crops are on a receding trend
in the predictions of the recent crops in the
country that is the global leader in the pro-
duction of the fruit, by virtue of climate in-
duced questions and others. Brazil reached
the peak of the orange crop of 19.8 million
tons in 2011, but has now receded to the lev-
els of 16 to 17 million tons harvested in 2001
and 2003, and likely to drop even further in
the new crop year. The projections made
by the Brazilian Institute of Geography and
Statistics (IBGE), in July 2016, indicate a re-
duction of 4.3% in 2015 and a new negative
growth rate of 3.2% in 2016.
In the meantime, the region that leads the
production of oranges, which accounts for
about two thirds of the total, identified as São
Paulo and Triângulo Mineiro Citrus Belt, com-
prising 323 municipalities in São Paulo and
26 inMinas Gerais, could suffer a reduction of
18.3% in the 2016/17 growing season, accord-
ing to estimates by Citrus Defense Fund (Fun-
Brazilianorange crop is
affectedby the critical
period and adverse
climate conditions, and
recedes into the early
days of the 21st century
São Paulo, the winner
The State of São Paulo is by far the biggest producer (upwards of 70%) of oranges in Brazil, in turn, the global leader. Therefore, the
national picture translates the performance of São Paulo, in practice, which in the projections of the Brazilian Institute of Geography
and Statistics (IBGE) shows a reduction of 4.4% in 2015, from the previous year, and 2.9% in 2016. The Institute of Applied Economics
(IEA), of that State, in June 2016, estimated a 3.4 reduction in the 2015/16 crop year (to 11.6 million tons) compared to the previous
year, and equally referred to a 2.8 percent smaller area (458.2 thousand hectares).
The survey by the organ in São Paulo also highlighted the consequences of the El Niño phenomenon in several orange producing
areas, which, in mid-October, caused minimum temperatures to rise, causing significant abortion of “the tiny green buds”, whilst the
trees failed to blossom, “besides constant rainfall in some regions, adversely affecting the performance of the trees”. With regard
to the cultivated area, he registers that the trees under production are decreasing in numbers, which could be an indication of the
continuity in eliminating the orchards affected by phytopathology problems, besides the interference from the production costs.
On the other hand, the institute in São Paulo is detecting the establishment of new orchards in regions like Catanduva, Itapetininga,
Lins, Mogi Mirim and São João da Boa Vista. The latter, in the Northeast portion of the State, with the leading region, Barretos, in the
North, and Avaré and Itapetininga, in the Central-South region, concentrate the largest fruit volumes in the State. In terms of biggest
orange producing municipalities, according to IBGE sources, the leader (Casa Branca, with 693,790 tons) is from the micro-region
of São João da Boa Vista, followed by Boa Esperança do Sul, in the region of Araraquara, from the Central area to the North, and
Itapetininga, reiterating the strength of the central area of the State, as far as orange orchards go.
SINAL AMARELO
YELLOW SIGN
Últimos números da laranja
no Brasil
Fonte:
IBGE/PAM * Estimativas LSPA, julho de 2016.
Safra Hectares Toneladas
2011
817.292
19.811.064
2012
729.583
18.012.560
2013
702.200
17.549.536
2014
689.047
16.927.637
2015*
688.248
16.197.828
2016*
666.340
15.674.994
